WE ARE WITNESSING the demise of the administrative state run by civil servants, a style of government which once led Professor Lau Siu-kai - who now heads the government's Central Policy Unit - to term Hong Kong a bureaucratic polity.
The ministerial system, ostensibly introduced to enhance accountability, has effectively relieved senior civil servants of governing powers. By bringing in 'outsiders' to help him lord over mandarins who had proved to be troublesome during his first term, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has staged a silent coup with Beijing's blessing.
In colonial times, the loyalty of civil servants was treasured and never in doubt, even at the height of the 1967 riots. In return, they were well rewarded in pay and benefits. This special relationship has been broken since the handover.
Sensing public dismay over civil servants' high salaries, the Tung administration has, in effect, embarked on a crusade against civil servants. But Mr Tung grossly under-estimated staff anger, as shown by more than 30,000 civil servants and their families who took to the streets on July 7 to protest against the legislated pay cut.
The rally reflected suspicion among many civil servants, who believe they are being victimised by a hidden agenda. The public seems to be in two minds about the civil servants' grievances, and now Mr Tung has found himself facing an unexpected political setback, despite the pay-cut legislation's passage.
Civil service unionism is becoming more militant, and alarm bells ring even louder when disciplinary forces, including the police, join in to voice misgivings.
